This invention relates to a robotic picker for laboratory containers, typically laboratory sample tubes and containers that vary in size and in the arrangement of the containers in the racks and trays that hold the containers. The term, containers, connotes typical laboratory tubes that vary in size and the term includes small diameter tubes, vials, and small dishes.
Such containers are typically arranged orthogonally in perpendicular rows or staggered in diagonal rows. Individual containers may be supported in racks or on trays and the like. The variety of sample containers has provided a challenge to the developers of robotic equipment to make mechanisms for robotic pickers that can accommodate the different sizes and arrangements of sample containers presented to the computer controlled robotic apparatus. The computer controlled robotic apparatus is employed to selectively access and displace individual containers according to programmed protocols. A particular challenge is to provide a robotic picker with a pick head that can access containers arranged both orthogonally in perpendicular rows and staggered in diagonal rows. The container arrangement staggered in diagonal rows is commonly called a honeycomb configuration.